CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) – The North Atlantic right whale spotted way out of range this week in Corpus Christi Bay is named “Boomerang,” and scientists say the sighting is the farthest west ever of the extremely rare whale.

Tony LaCasse of the New England Aquarium said Friday that there are fewer than 350 North Atlantic right whales, and most of them have been named, photographed, and catalogued. He said their primary habitat is off the Atlantic coast.

Aquarium officials were able to identify her after news and photographs went out about one of the whales swimming with her calf in the shallow bay.

Boomerang was named for the shape of a scar on the underside of her tail. She is 11 years old and a first-time mother. Her calf, believed to be 6 weeks old, has not been named.

Scott Kraus, director of right whale research at the aquarium, said patterns of hardened skin on the whales’ heads can be seen in photographs and “used like a fingerprint” to identify individual animals.

Boomerang was last identified off the Florida coast.

There appear to be two cuts on the back of the calf, but researcher Amy Knowton said the calf does not appear to be in danger.

She said the most important thing was that Boomerang and her calf make it back to their northern feeding waters.

As of Wednesday, Boomerang was not spotted in the bay and researchers were hopeful she had found her way out into the Gulf of Mexico.

Boomerang is usually seen every summer near the border of Maine and New Brunswick, Canada, and in the spring and fall off Cape Cod, Mass.

AP-ES-01-20-06 1812EST